NEWS: Nov. 3, 2016
Public Workforce | The Nation
Justice Department Execs' Bonuses
Most Generous Across Government
Performance bonuses paid to career senior executives at the Department of Justice in fiscal 2015 averaged $14,748, the most generous in the federal government, according to the latest data from the Office of Personnel Management. Rounding out the top five agencies were the Treasury Department, the Agency for International Development and the departments of Education and Commerce.
>> Government Executive
Council Move Would Boost Pay for Thousands of Feds
The Federal Salary Council, which makes recommendations to the White House on federal employee pay issues, has suggested lowering the threshold for adding locality-pay areas, which would effectively boost pay for thousands of federal employees.
>> Government Executive
Public Pensions | New Jersey
State's Pension System Has Become Worst-Funded
New Jersey has become the state with the worst-funded public pension system, followed closely by Kentucky and Illinois. The Garden State had $135.7 billion less than it needed to cover all the benefits that had been promised in 2015, a $22.6 billion increase over the prior year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
>> Bloomberg News
Law Enforcement | Suffolk County, N.Y.
Ex-Police Chief Gets 46 Months
in Prison over Beating, Cover-Up
A federal judge sentenced former Suffolk County police chief James Burke to 46 months in prison for beating a man who stole a duffel bag from Burke's police-issued vehicle and orchestrating an elaborate scheme to conceal the crime. Burke acted "as a dictator" in a cover-up conspiracy that "affected a whole police department," U.S. District Judge Leonard Wexler said.
>> Newsday
Iowa Cop-Killing Suspect Had Run-Ins with Authorities
An Urbandale, Iowa, man arrested as the lone suspect in the killing of two Des Moines-area police officers had a history of abrasive and racially charged run-ins with police and school officials.
>> Des Moines Register
Technology Management | The Nation
GAO Aces Its Own Information-Security Audit
The Government Accountability Office, which has savaged the Internal Revenue Service and other agencies for poor information-security practices, passed its own review with flying colors. The GAO inspector general's review focused on GAO's procedures to wipe sensitive data off defunct laptops, smartphones and other devices before disposal.
>> Nextgov
Transportation | The Washington, D.C., Region
Metro Board Chairman
Calls for Federal Takeover
Metro Board Chairman Jack Evans urged a federal takeover of the transit system, instantly triggering a regionwide debate over what would be a drastic step to solve the agency's financial and management problems. Evans's call for a federal control board with "extraordinary powers" to run Metro drew a surprisingly positive response from several leading elected officials and former Metro board members.
>> Washington Post
Michigan County's Employees to Get Free Transit Passes
Wayne County, Mich., plans to provide county employees who use public transportation to commute to work with free transit passes worth between $12 and $77 a month in a move that County Executive Warren Evans said is designed to encourage transit ridership.
>> Detroit News
Education | Jackson, Miss.
Former Federal Education Secretary
Named University's Interim President
The state's College Board named former U.S. education secretary and Houston school superintendent Rod Paige as interim president of Jackson State University. The 83-year-old Paige, who graduated from JSU and is also a former JSU football coach, replaces Carolyn Meyers, who resigned in the face of an examination of the university's dwindling cash reserves.
>> Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Houston Chronicle
School Reforms Sought to Aid Milwaukee Children of Color
Saying that Milwaukee's public schools have not effectively engaged children of color, Superintendent Darienne Driver is proposing a slate of major reforms, including mandating student uniforms, launching the school year in August and imposing principal coaching and potential staff changes at the lowest-performing schools.
>> Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Presidency | The Nation
Obama Faults FBI in Clinton Email Probe
President Obama, saying that "we don't operate on innuendo," faulted the FBI over its handling of the investigation into whether newfound emails are related to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's private server. The remarks were Obama's first public reaction to FBI Director James B. Comey's decision last week to make the review public just days before the election.
>> Los Angeles Times
Pence Campaign Aide Still on Indiana Payroll
Joshua Pitcock, a key aide to Indiana governor and Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence, continues to earn $23,000 a month as Indiana's sole Washington lobbyist even as he has taken a paid position with the Republican presidential campaign.
>> AP/Yahoo News
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VIEWPOINT
Public Administration | Feather O'Connor Houstoun
What Plumbers Can Teach Government
I've been intrigued for many years by what one can learn from the concepts underlying hydraulics. It is an axiom of highway planning, for example, that engineering hydraulics predict much of the phenomena experienced in traffic flow. Engineering aside, much of public management rests on virtual "plumbing." As in preventing a household emergency, careful attention to throughput capacities, sticky valves, blockages and leaks is essential. Any public manager faced with backlogs, overflows and inexplicable dysfunction would do well do examine the pipes and valves through which a program is flowing to better identify where problems lie.
>> Governing
PLUS: Stephen Goldsmith on the need for effective data-driven governance.
>> Governing | More commentaries
QUOTABLE
“We're actually now going backwards. That's alarming.”
New York City Controller Scott Stringer, issuing a report documenting that 4.8 percent of the city's $15.3 billion in contract spending went to businesses owned by minorities and women in the 2016 fiscal year, down from 5.3 percent the year before, and giving the city a D-plus grade for minority contracting
>> New York Daily News | More quotes
DATAPOINT
27,000 to 1
Ratio of the number of federal annuitants seeking answers on or solutions for retirement issues to the number of Office of Personnel Management customer-service specialists or contractors, according to an inspector general's report saying that roughly 28 percent of the 1.9 million calls to the agency's Retirement Information Office in fiscal year 2015 went unanswered
>> Federal News Radio | More data
UPCOMING EVENTS
Public Safety
Applicant Testing
and Assessment
TODAY | 1 p.m. ET
Presented by Bruce Henry, this webinar will explore new federal initiatives to assist public administrators in modernizing police recruitment and hiring programs in light of the "Ferguson Effect." For more information on the webinar or to register, click here. |
Heritage Foundation and American Legislative Exchange Council
Report release and discussion: "Unaccountable and Unaffordable: How State and Local Governments Have Racked Up Nearly $5.6 Trillion in Unfunded Pension Promises and What They Can Do About It"
Today, noon-1 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C.
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Reuters
Webcast: "The 2016 U.S. Presidential Election: Examining Possible Health Care Futures"
Today, 12:30 p.m. ET
Urban Institute and University of Wisconsin La Follette School of Public Affairs
Lecture: "Improving Opportunities for Children: Advice for the New Administration "
Today, 12:30-2 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C.
Government Technology
Webinar: "Take Time and Money out of Government Processes"
Today, 2 p.m. ET
Brookings Institution and Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking
Discussions: "Building the Evidence: Evaluating the Data on Government Programs"
Nov. 4, 8:30 a.m.-11:55 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C.
American Enterprise Institute
Discussion with Lawrence H. Summers and Robert Barro: "Why Has Economic Growth Been Slow, and How Can We Wpeed It Up?"
Nov. 4, 9-10:20 a.m. ET, Washington, D.C.
>> Full events listings
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